


Cheer Up

by cas_tielle



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Angst, Christmas, F/F, Hurt/Comfort, fluff fail
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-02
Updated: 2015-01-02
Packaged: 2018-03-04 20:30:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,248
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3088091
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cas_tielle/pseuds/cas_tielle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Where Korra hates Christmas and Asami is hurting, cuddling and cuteness is born.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Cheer Up

**Author's Note:**

> this was written very quickly and as a result probably sucks. also it turns out i'm shit at fluff lol. ANYWAY IT WAS IN THE SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS.

“You know,” Asami says, huffing as she pulls the tree through the doorway, “as cute as you look sitting there with your mouth open like that, I wouldn’t mind a bit of help. I had to drag this entire thing through the city all by myself!”

Korra drops her book and leaps up from the couch, hastily helping her push the cumbersome thing into their little apartment. Her hands are grazed by the pointy leaves and she blows furiously as some of them land in her mouth. With some more effort, it’s settled into a corner, its branches shaking and the needly leaves falling to the ground. Asami regards at it admiringly, while her girlfriend stares at her like she’s just grown another head.

“Why did you buy a _tree?_ ”

Asami looks offended. “It’s not just a tree,” she says, laying a protective hand on it, “it’s a _Christmas_ tree. Obviously. There’s a big difference, Korra.”

“Is it that time of the year again?” she sighs, and rolls her eyes. She’s never really seen the point in the holiday, really, it’s never been her thing. “It figures you’d be one to celebrate it.”

“ _Excuse_ me, Avatar.” The dark-haired woman places her hands on her hips and frowns at Korra. “You can’t _not_ celebrate Christmas. No girlfriend of mine is going to go a year without holiday cheer.”

“I’ll be your first, then.” Korra kisses her on the cheek and returns to her space on the couch, and picks up her book again. Following, Asami takes it from her and puts it back down.

“Hey!” she protests.

“Let’s talk about this. What’s wrong with Christmas?”

“There’s nothing wrong with it, I just think it’s kind of a useless holiday.” Korra shrugs. “It’s just another excuse to celebrate the cold. Why would I want to celebrate the cold? There’s snow all year round in the North.”

“But what about spirit of the holiday? Spending time with your friends and family?” insists Asami.

“I spend time with all of you on a daily basis; and besides, we already have a gathering for that on New Year’s Day.”

“ _Korraaaaa._ ”

“ _Asamiiiii._ ”

“Don’t be such a downer. Come down to Air Temple Island with me; Tenzin and his family are having a Christmas party later,” Asami pleads, clasping her hands together under her chin. She bats her eyelashes prettily over green eyes and looks through them up at Korra, who considers giving in just to kiss that nose of hers.

“Why is this such a big deal to you?” Korra asks. “You’ve never pushed something like this before.”

Asami stills suddenly, and she braces herself. 

Shit.

Stealthily, Asami’s hand creeps over Korra’s and takes it in her own, rubbing her knuckles with her thumb wanderingly. Refusing to meet her girlfriend’s gaze, she focuses on her fingers, suddenly finding the pattern in her skin extremely interesting. And as much as Korra enjoys this, she’s far more interested in her following words.

“Dad and I,” she starts, and Korra knows she’s in deep shit, “we used to be really big on the holidays. We’d celebrate it extra, for Mom, you know?”

Korra says nothing, but bites the inside of her cheek. This needs to be said, she knows, but she hates seeing Asami like this.

Her eyes flick up briefly to catch Korra’s, smiling faintly. It’s a smile of nostalgia and lost times, and Korra knows that even though she’s looking at her, she’s not seeing her.

“There would be parties; big, festive parties, with too much decoration and excessive streamers. We’d laugh too loud and dance too long and we’d always make enough food for three.” Her breathing becomes labored, and her hands tighten around Korra’s. “And then I bought this stupid tree on an impulse because it was the largest damn one in the shop and I thought that I could make up for their absences with bigger celebrations and more cheer since it’s the first Christmas I’ve had without them but now I just feel like a fool and I – ”

“Shhh, darling, don’t,” Korra hushes, her heart breaking as the dark haired woman dissolves into tears, and she gathers her up in her arms, trying to hold as much of Asami as she can, but she knows that however much she holds her, it will never be enough. She squeezes tighter anyway. 

“You’re not a fool,” she murmurs into her hair, lips pressed to Asami’s temple. Her hand strokes down her back in soothing patterns, trying to calm her shaking form. “You’re perfect. You’re perfect. I love you, don’t cry.”

They stay like that for a long time, clinging to each other like they are their only anchors to this world. Asami buries her head into the crook of Korra’s shoulder, inhaling her scent, the way she always smells of sweet spices. Eventually she stops crying, and just lays in Korra’s embrace with her head in her lap and her fingers combing gently through her hair. Korra toys with an inky lock, twirling it around her hand aimlessly, and letting it drop loosely on Asami’s chest, curly and glossy.

“I don’t want to spend Christmas crying with you,” Asami says quietly, looking up at her.

“Then let’s go out,” says Korra. “Come out with me. We’ll take a walk in the park.”

Reluctantly, she sits up, rubs the wetness out of her eyes with the back of her hand and smooths down her clothes.

Outside, they walk together, hand in hand along the streets and Korra can see that winter has settled like a cloud over the city. Red and green decorate the shop windows, paired with snowflake stickers on the display cases. They pass a florist shop with spirit vines curling along the walls, filled with different sized Christmas trees and bundles of holly and bunches of mistletoe. Korra slows by one of the flower boxes outside, pulls Asami to a halt.

“Aren’t these flowers beautiful?” she tells her. 

“Oh, they’re just lovely.” Asami paws through the different bouquets.

Behind her back, Korra makes rotating gestures with her finger, and catches a sprig of mistletoe in a miniature cyclone. The air swirls around and it settles above their heads.

“What’s this?” asks Korra, grinning as her girlfriend looks up. “Is that – oh, _mistletoe?_ ”

Before Asami can say anything, she is kissed soundly on the lips, smiling fiercely into it. Korra’s hand bunches into Asami’s ringlets at the nape of her neck, pressing into her as hard as she can. Asami tastes like sweet lip gloss and candied apples and it’s the kind of sugar that can melt Korra’s heart. When she finally pulls back, the mistletoe has long since fallen, but it doesn’t matter anymore. Asami grins, scrunching up her face and nuzzling at Korra’s nose, planting little kisses on the corner of her mouth. Korra’s hand rests on her cheek, rubbing her skin softly and looking into her eyes adoringly.

“Let’s make a trip to Air Temple Island,” whispers Korra, with a smile in her voice. “I think I’m feeling the holiday spirit now.”

“Are you, now?” Asami laughs. “You don’t have to come with me, I know this isn’t your favorite time of year.”

“No, no, I want to,” she insists. “I think I could get used to this Christmas thing.”

“Mm, not so bad, is it?”

Korra nips at her chin, sucking gently on Asami’s upper lip. “Nothing’s bad when I’m with you.”

“Merry Christmas, Korra.”

“Merry Christmas, Asami.”

 


End file.
